It seems that in Home, Sony's online social space designed especially for the PlayStation 3, there are more than a few problems (remember, we recently covered 'Quincying' among Home enthusiasts).  In their effort to weed out any offensive speech, Sony has implemented language filters of unprecedented power and scope.  The filters utterly preclude the use of a whole slew of words – words like gay, lesbian, Jew, and even the greeting 'hello'.  (Presumably this is because 'hello' contains the word 'hell' in it).  The San Francisco Chronicle tells the tale of a man who tried to form a GLBT club in Home, but found it extremely difficult to do.  You see, it's hard to talk about being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, when all of those words are strictly forbidden.  

The guys over at BioWare sure know how to run a publicity campaign for an upcoming game.  They've kept up a pretty steady outpouring of goodies pertaining to the upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic.  TOR is looking to be a very sharp game and features some very innovative concepts (henchman companions, quests with long-term consequences, etc) and an intriguing art style called  “Stylised Realism” (which is apparently a technical term for “highly detailed cartoons”).  You can check out the 8 new screenshots and 8 new pieces of concept art at the official TOR site.

Not to be outdone, the highly professional PR campaign for Star Trek Online also spewed forth some epic goodness this past week, giving out the details – and lots of them – of the first ship featured in the game.  It's called the NX-91001, and it's full of the kind of future-tech badassery that only a Star Trek geek can truly appreciate.

In the realm of odd and highly questionable studies in the area of MMO gaming, there's this:  apparently, there's a huge number of bisexual women playing online these days.  A study of 2400 EQII players by university of Delaware researchers found that players didn't fall into traditional stereotypes.  They're not as fat and in better shape than previously thought, nearly half of whom (40%) are female.  What's more, those females are much more “hardcore”, spent more time playing than the males, and were five times more likely to be bisexual compared to the population overall. 

Elvyra over at Wandering Goblin called the entire study into question.  First off, the “study” appears to consist only of a survey, and further appears to have occurred either in game, or online.  It is impossible, under those circumstances, to determine a given player's actual gender.  Since the study focuses on gender issues, this is an important point.  Further, the participants were rewarded with an in-game item, possibly skewing the results.  Another major concern is that the study consisted of a mere 2,400 participants; the chances of finding a disproportionate number of a given demographic in a sample of this size are substantial.  Worst of all, Elvyra points out, surveys are highly vulnerable to trolling.  Given the propensity for gamers to purposely furnish inaccurate information – they're quite the fun loving bunch – the methodology leaves the study ripe for exploitation. 

As we wrap up, let's consider this romantic holiday tale:  the excellent Michael Gray, a fellow games writer over at WoWInsider, wanted to propose to his WoW-playing girlfriend.  Michael thought it would be amusing to emulate “The Way to His Heart” quest.  In that quest, you'll remember, a male walrus (ok, lore geeks, back it off a notch:  yes, technically, it's a reef bull.  I know, I know; now go take your Ritalin) is led across a narrow inlet of water by leaving a trail of fish.  Once on the other side, he finds his female counterpart and love blooms.   

Michael blindfolded his lady-love, and then left a trail of gummy fish for her to follow.  She did; the trail led to an engagement ring.  Much to Michael's joy, she said yes, and the two will be forever joined in holy (and geeky) matrimony.    

And that, dear friends, is all for this week.  If you'd like to have a dose of these kinds of MMO-inspired shenanigans every day, feel free to drop by WanderingGoblin.com.  Until next week, ciao!

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